Red's the Colour of Victory
by CreepingBoNE
Summary: Shepard's not too big on the touchy-feely crap; but then neither is Wrex. It's all about the sex...Mostly.


**-IMPORTANT NOTE-**

Alright, so this piece of shit is getting a complete re-do.

It was written after two days without sleep, so the characters are grossly inaccurate; and, put simply, their personalities are a warped figment of my imagination.

I'm working on it right now, it includes:

-Longer chapters

-A more thought-out plot

-No 'Whiney Kaidan syndrome'

This was originally a kink-fill [that was never posted] so it was meant to be two, maybe five chapters at most; hence the rushed introduction and bullshitty characterisation.

I've left the old chapter up until I can replace it with the new. My apologies and condolences for having to read shut a complete fuckup.

CB~

* * *

Throwing him to the ground at the Krogan's feet, she watched in satisfaction as the realisation dawned on Fist. He'd pushed too far. He was going to die. "Wai-Wait, I'll ta-" Wrex pulled the trigger and an explosion of gore splattered across the Commander's shin guards. "Too late."

As the headless body toppled backwards with a decidedly unappetizing noise, and the Merc re-holstered his Claymore; Kaiden began to protest. Loudly. "What the hell were you thinking?! You can't just kill an unarm-" Wrex bared his teeth in silent warning. "I was thinking that I took a job. When I take a job I finish it. It ensures more jobs come my way. Which means I get paid." Shepard motioned to the Turian Officer _'Garrus, his name is Garrus.'_ to begin hacking Fist's vault; before bending down and rifling through the deadman's pockets herself.

She snorted. _'Fist. What the hell kinda name is that? 's Hardly intimidating.'_

"That man was owed due proce-Commander, what on Earth are you doing?" Shoving a salvaged heatsink between her teeth, she continued her work. "Not on Earth Lieutenant, and what the in the fuck does it _look_ like I'm doin'?" Glancing back over her shoulder at the two men she noted Wrex's glowering expression. He looked about ready to headbutt Alenko through the wall.

"Yo-You. WHY?" Shepard grinned; teeth still clamed around her prize. "Free shit." That earned her an amused 'harrumph' out of Wrex as he ambled off, supposedly to check the otherside of the room. The Lieutenant just stood there, disbelief radiating out of every pore. "Not like he's gunna need it Alenko. Not with the state his mind's in at the moment." She purposefully twisted her booted foot in a grey clump, turning it into a smear.

He looked decidedly more green now. _'Good. He needs to get his toes wet.'_

"Ah, Commander?" Garrus' dual-toned voice emanated from her left. "You might wanna see this." He was scrolling through a datapad at lighting fast speed, eyes darting back and forth and no doubt drinking in every detail. _'Bout time we had a speedreader on the team.'_

"What's the gist?" Wrex shoved one of the faux leather couches over; probably looking for hidden vaults, though she wouldn't put it past him to destroy things just for the hell of it.

"We found the Quarian. She's got a tracker on her; probably so Fist wouldn't loose her if she got suspicious and ditched."

"Where's she headed?" He squinted and tapped the screen a couple of times, the holographic map pulled outwards, showing the route the snitch was taking.

"She's...Not too far actually. A block or two away." Shepard clapped his shoulder. "Good work. Let's head out. Wrex, Garrus, with me. Kaiden, head back to the Normandy, rest up."

The biotic again, protested. "Commander, really? You're going to trust a pair of-" He trailed off under the rest of the squad's scrutiny. _'Alright, enough.'_

She strode forward, back ramrod straight and a scowl plastered across her face."Alenko, let me be clear. You are not XO. You are not even my third in command. You are a **soldier**, and you have been given a direct order. We're in the middle of a mission; I will not be questioned while lives are at stake and you have made it clear that you cannot hold your emotions in check. Head back to the Normandy; you and I will discuss this later."

He jerked to attention, snapped of a barely acceptable salute and barked. "Yes, Ma,am!"

"You will address me as 'Sir'!"

Another salute, this one more controlled. "Yes, Sir!"

"Good. Dismissed."

Alenko couldn't get out of there fast enough.

Chuckling, Wrex stepped up on her right. "He'll learn eventually."

She massaged the bridge of her nose. "Maybe, but until he does he's a massive headache. _My_ massive headache." A sigh. "Move out."

* * *

The lift came to a grating stop at the base of the shaft and Shepard quickly keyed in a reminder on her Omni-tool to notify Tali and Adams that it needed a re-check. The garage was deserted, save for the red armour that signified their resident Warlord's presence. He was in the middle of weapon maintenance, using the bench that William's usually occupied. He'd pulled a metal crate over to sit on and seemed to be deep in thought. Still, she had no doubt that he was aware of her.

Taking a page from his book, she dragged an empty ammo case up to the bench and plonked herself on the end of the workbench, back to the lockers. Gave both of them a comfortable amount of space to react, and kept them in each other's sightline.

"Wrex." She greeted, eyeing the hulking Krogan as he rubbed an oil cloth meticulously over his much-loved weapons.

Barely a glance. "Commander."

Without another word Shepard placed her comparatively smaller shotgun on the tabletop and began dismantling it.

They talked.

At first it was idle banter, guns'n mods; their mutual distaste for the ship's food, ect.

Then after a few weeks of sharing living space, and more than half a dozen near death experiences in which they'd had to pull each other's arses out of the fire, it relaxed.

Drinks were exchanged as well as life stories. Needless to say Wrex had far more to share than she.

He spoke of home, the dusty, ruined planet of his birth, the father who'd tried to stab him in the back, and his sorrow for the plight of the Krogan.

Shepard told him of her mother, a strong, indestructible woman that'd clawed her way to bloody victory on more than one occasion.

"She was my hero when I was a kid, the way I acted you'd think she could shit mass effect fields." He rumbled in amusement. "Seems to be universal thing, kids worshiping their mothers. Krogan sure as hell do it, at least until they hit maturity."

When Wrex asked after her father, she scowled and gave a cursory shrug. "The bastard was a druggie; mum'd kicked his arse to the curb after she figured it out, a few months before I was born. Hardly ever saw him, he only showed up to refill his pockets on her hard-earned money then he'd be off; sniffing red sand and fucking anything with a pulse." Shepard scratched at her jaw in agitation.

"One day he rocked up and demanded she fork over 10,000 credits. He'd apparently killed a whore that'd been worth quite a lot. Her pimp was demanding he cough up the cash or he'd loose his head."

"Needless to say my mother was none too thrilled. She told him to get fucked and demanded he leave. Even if she'd had that amount on her I doubt she'd've handed it over.

He was furious, told her if she didn't get out of his way he'd kill her. Seems he forgot he'd hooked up with a commando; by the time he'd made a move to grab her, his arm was already broken. Honestly I reckon he was high as the proverbial kite because he just kept coming, didn't even react to the pain. He shoved her back and pulled a gun; shot her once in the shoulder, then twice in the stomach. Slammed her head against the wall for good measure."

"I was only about eleven, but mum'd shown me what she could. While his back was to me I kicked out his knee. He tried to catch himself on his broken arm but it just collapsed under him and he ploughed face first into a corner. The gun had skidded a couple'a metres when he hit the ground, and I went for it."

"He was too slow; I had the pistol shoved against his forehead before he could get up."

"Mum was unconscious so I didn't know what to do. The cunt just gave me this sleazy, shit eating grin. _'Come on sweetheart, you ain't gonna shoot yer own daddy. You're a good girl. Ain't 'cha?_' My hands were shaking and I was sweating bullets but I didn't lower the weapon."

"I told him to open his Omni-tool. Said I was gonna call the authorities. It was stupid, but I was a kid and I didn't trust myself to hold the gun steady if I moved. He got angry again, screaming at me, sayin' he'd strangle me with my own guts. By that time I was pissing myself. Then he made a lunge for me; I jerked back, and reflexively pulled the trigger. Blew his brains right out the back of his skull."

Shepard made a little pistol with the fingers of one hand and mimed the recoil of a fired weapon. "Bam."

He grunted "Couldn't've been easy for a kid."

"Looking back on it; it was actually one of the most satisfying moments of my life. He'd always been this overwhelming shadow that was constantly on the periphery, looming and unpredictable. We could never relax; with him gone, mum and I could continue to live in some semblance of peace." She swirled the remnants of her beer slowly, deep in the memories.

"Your mother survived?"

"Told you, she's the toughest bastard I've ever known. It took her two weeks in hospital and three months of recovery but she's still at the top of her game." Wrex bared his teeth in the Krogan equivalent of a grin. "At least you know who to thank for your thick skull."

* * *

Author's Note: Just so ya know guys, this is a multi-chapter fic, and I will make it **expressly** clear when it's finished.


End file.
